Reports: Penguins to name Rutherford as GM

The Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to announce the hire of Jim Rutherford as their new general manager on Friday, according to reports.

Rutherford, the Carolina Hurricanes' former general manager, left his advisory/president role with the team to take the Penguins' job.

The Penguins scheduled a press conference for 1 p.m. ET.

Rutherford, 65, will replace Ray Shero, whom the Penguins fired after they lost to the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Rutherford was the franchise's general manager for 20 seasons. The Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006. He recently took on his new role with the team after the regular season when Ron Francis was promoted to general manager.

Rutherford was the longest-tenured general manager in the NHL. The franchise has a regular-season record of 570-521-167-20 since moving to Carolina from Hartford (the former Whalers) in 1997.

The Penguins also contacted agent Pat Brisson for the job, but he decided to stay with agency CAA. Brisson represents several high-profile players including Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, Anze Kopitar, John Tavares and Jonathan Toews.